Using Mid-Range Laser Scanners to Digitize Cultural-Heritage Sites

A process for digitizing cultural heritage—in this case, a historic building in England—involves capturing data with a mid-range laser scanner, processing the data, and then creating a model. Such a process is becoming more accessible to nonspecialists. However, technical barriers to processing as well as mindsets inherited from 2D mapping and imaging hinder understanding. Given that data capture is easier than processing, sustainable data management strategies are necessary, such as empirical provenance, archiving, and the long-term preservation of high-definition, dense 3D data. Open source and active communities of user-creators will likely be the future for the generation and preservation of such data.